Tuesday 4 ~ Hello December

 Well, "Hello December" is our theme for this week's Tuesday 4 meme. So before I get into it, I need to do the calendar  roll call for December! I already shared one them last night HERE.  But I know you are all waiting to see the rest of them, right?  LOL.  So here we go:

Here's the John Sloane Country Seasons Calendar for December:

I just love all the details in this picture...trees for sale, the lit lantern, the horse ready to carry the man and his packages and Christmas tree back home.  The title is "Satisfied Customer", and he does look very pleased indeed. I would be too if I could shop at such a place...wouldn't you? Although it looks like it would be a chilly ride back home!

But not as chilly as it would be to live in one of these cabins!  Yikes! I do hope that snow doesn't fall off the roof on top of someone! I'm not sure that anyone is actually staying in these cabins right now...what do you think? It sure looks like a very bleak and cold place!  We were freezing here this morning in Florida at 34 degrees! And even though I have lived in the wintry north where there was a lot of snow and mountains, I was younger then, and I really don't think I would want to do that again at this stage in life!

But if I did live there, I might have to try and make some of this "Chocolate Mint Coffee", although I don't drink coffee, so maybe just a chocolate mint cocoa would be better! LOL.

This is the Susan Branch calendar...always something cute and fun. And yes, I guess the "Elves make their own magic."  They are such fun and mysterious little creatures, aren't they?  

Ah, now this is more my style! This is the Teapot Calendar for December...a child's Christmas tea set, with a gingerbread house and a teddy bear...looks like a happy little scene for the child in me...

Here's my little tea set that belonged to my grandmother! It is very similar in style to the one above, except that it is plain and not decorated for Christmas...and that little red-headed girl is having "Breakfast with Teddy" (that is the actual title on the card).  I've saved that little picture for years, because she reminds me of myself as a little girl.

Yes, Alice, "It's always tea-time." We just have to have a little imagination!

And now that we've gotten the calendar roll-call out of the way, let's move on to the Tuesday 4 for today and see what's happening there!

Hello December!

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4...

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving and you may be looking forward to Chanukah and Christmas both of which are December 25th. Chanukah is the day the temple, which had been desecrated was rededicated and the huge light within was restored to earth! That light represented the presence of God on earth with man. Also winter begins in just a couple of weeks....


1. Do you have plans for the coming holidays?

As of right now, we do not have any particular plans for the Christmas holidays, except for our traditional Christmas activities with the church and family and friends. We do not plan to go anywhere special that we know of at this time.

2.What foods do you look forward to during these upcoming holidays?

We really haven't discussed what we will be having for  Christmas dinner yet.  Last year we had lasagna, (and we had some extra special friends here with us to enjoy that meal together)Click here for last year's celebration, and that actually will answer some of these questions!  This year, because Christmas is in the middle of the week, and the kids' work schedules are not quite as flexible as before, we may have a very scaled down Christmas day with just the immediate family here...and we still haven't discussed what we want to eat.  I do hope our son Scott will have time to bake some cookies. I really would like some of my Grandma Mursch's Sand Tarts again, but that takes a lot of time, and I don't know if he will have time to do it and I don't know if I want to tackle it alone. It's more fun with someone helping you! Maybe I can get Rose to help me, but she's working full time again, and putting in a lot of long hours, so I doubt she'll have any spare time. She did help me one year with this. You can read about that HERE. (and also see the recipe!) We'll see what develops.

3.Are there traditions for the holidays that you look forward to each year? Also, how do you spend the days ahead of the holidays.. shopping? Cooking? Listening to Music> Hallmark movies? Do tell!!!  

See the link above about the cookies.  Regarding the days ahead of the holidays, yes, shopping (but I do NOT enjoy that part of it. I am NOT a good shopper and it is always a difficult task for me.) Cooking? I like to bake cookies, but prefer to have someone else enjoy that tradition with me! 

Listening to music?  Yes, hubby and I both love to listen to Handel's Messiah during the Christmas holidays, as well as other classical Christmas music by Mozart and others. I enjoy regular Christmas carols and Christian Christmas music.  I also participate in our church Christmas cantata each year, and that takes a lot of practice and preparation.  We will present the cantata in the Sunday morning service before Christmas.  We also participate in a special Candlelight service at a neighboring church, where our choir sings some Christmas music along with other choirs. It's always a very special night! Also our Women in Faith group at our church always has a lovely Christmas luncheon that I look forward to attending and hopefully my DIL Rose will be able to go again this year.  Here is a LINK to all of these things from last year.  

As far as movies, we watch a few special Christmas movies throughout the season.  My favorite one is "The Bishop's Wife" (the original one with Loretta Young and Cary Grant). But we also enjoy the fun ones like A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, etc. 

4. What advice can you give for making the holidays memorable and bright?

Try to pace yourself and don't overdo it. Get plenty of rest! Remember that Jesus is the Reason for the Season. All the other activities, although noble and fun and important, should never take away from or supersede spending time celebrating the Birthday of the King, Jesus Christ our Lord! That's why I love that our church celebrates the Advent season with the lighting of the candles on the Advent wreath each week, and sharing the Christmas story through the reading of God's Word.  It helps me to prepare my heart for welcoming the Christ-child into my heart and life anew and fresh each year...celebrating Him coming to earth to save us from our sins.  There are links on the right side margin of my blog for all aspects of the Advent season. If you want to know more about Advent.

Matthew 1:21 NKJV

21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Okay, now let's go see what others are doing during this most wonderful time of the year! Click HERE to join the fun!  Thank you, Annie, for another year full of fun and interesting Tuesday 4 posts.  You have carried on this tradition from our dear departed Toni Taddeo very lovingly and nobly.  I know Toni would be very very pleased.

Still Processing Christmas...Day One

Technically, Christmas is over...at least the day we celebrate Christmas is over. But Christmas itself is not over!  It's still lingering in our minds and hearts and spirits...and probably still lingering in our homes in the decorations, leftovers in the fridge, gift wrap and packaging in the trash, cookies and pies and candies still lurking around tempting us to keep nibbling away at things we shouldn't...and hopefully in our memories...sweet memories especially...

Welcome to Christmas memories from our house and my heart...

Christmas morning started out with a lovely sunrise...

Which was only preceded by a magnificent sunset on Christmas Eve as we traveled to church for the Christmas Eve service:

And as we lit each of the Advent candles, it was so wonderful to sing the familiar Christmas carols and hear the Christmas story once again as we lit the candles of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, and then we lit the center Christ Candle to remind us that the Light of the world was born this night. "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shined." Isaiah 9:2 "You, O Lord, have multiplied the nation, You have increased its joy. For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:3, 6) And we were once again reminded that Jesus is also called Emmanuel, for in Him God is with us.  This is what Christmas is really all about...and I am so thankful that we started out our Christmas Eve and Day with these special reminders of why we are celebrating.

As I sat in the choir loft singing a

(this video was actually from our church last year, but same song)

Celtic Silent night with our choir, the congregation was passing along the "light of Christ" to their neighbors

Such a beautiful and peaceful way to usher in Christmas...

On our way home we drove around our neighborhood to see if there were any Christmas lights shining, and we were surprised to find quite a few. Our neighborhood is a rather modest community of mostly manufactured homes.  There were no elaborate displays like one would expect in larger communities, but this one above touched my heart.  There in the middle of their Christmas candy cane lights and hanging icicle lights, was a beautifully lit cross, reminding us of why Jesus came to earth in the first place...to save us all from our sins. We must never forget the price He paid for our redemption.

And then we went home to prepare for what would come in the morning:

Son Scott, who had gotten home too late from work to go with us to church, was busily preparing one of his Christmas gifts for our family, a batch of my grandmother's Sand Tart cookies! (recipe can be found on that link to a much older post from past.)

I was amazed that he had these all baked and the kitchen cleaned up by the time we got home. What a great guy!!

And next, Santa Claus had to slip in and distribute the gifts for the "kids" who would be arriving in the morning for Christmas day...

Lily Grace and Baby Elva had fun watching Santa at work...

Oh, look who got a stocking hung by the chimney with care:

Next morning, the "kids" and Grandpuppies arrived, ready for fun:

Sugar and Spice saying hello to "Uncle Scott"...

And then discovering that they had a special stocking filled with new toys just for them, which kept them occupied and happy for the rest of the morning:

Sweet Daughter in Love Rose and Son Benton, opening their gifts...

And son Scott and Daddy  sharing a good laugh over a very "interesting" fun gift sent from a relative..."Pooh Ping Pong"...there's always gotta be a silly gift somewhere in the bunch...and this was the silliest ever...

Thankfully Lily Grace's gifts were much better...

She got a couple of new outfits sent from her Auntie Peggy and Uncle Billy, among other things...

Yes, I know, our family is a bit "touched in the head" sometimes, but we do have fun...

And we do love to eat.  While opening our gifts, the hamloaf was baking in the oven with the scalloped potatoes, and butternut squash, green beans, rolls...

And oh, I almost forgot, Rose also made some deviled eggs! It was a delicious and simple dinner, and I "believe" everyone was happy and quite satisfied!

We ate off of my "good Wedding China", on a plastic Christmas tablecloth, but I did use red cloth napkins...LOL.  Tried to keep things simple but still special.

Speaking of special, our sweet daughter in law, (with a little help from her hubby the carpenter) created some wonderful signs for us.  She asked us for a special verse or saying that was meaningful...and the above picture is exactly what my hubby said.

And then she looked on my blog somewhere and found this verse below and created this sign for me:

And also this one I mentioned particularly, because of course, we live "beside the still waters" (pond).

Another sweet gift was this set of jigsaw puzzles:

I said this is where I want to live someday:

Well, maybe not with the snow. LOL. Actually, I feel like we are pretty close to living there already.

Oh, one more very special thing that happened on Christmas day. For some time we have not had much communication with our grandson Noah, who is our only grandchild, and also the son of our son Matthew who passed away from cancer in 2014.  So staying in touch with him is especially meaningful to us. But he is 22 years old and a typical young man living his life and not really realizing just how much it means to us to hear from him.  And the fact that he lives in Maine makes it a bit more difficult to just run up and visit anytime.  So anyway, long story short...recently Noah and some friends have embarked on an adventure of a lifetime.  I told my hubby they are like the pioneers of old, searching for new lands to "conquer" and begin a new life.  Two couples have set out across the country in campers, working their way along as they head south to warmer and hopefully more economically productive locations. And recently he decided to start responding to my texts, by sending me a few pictures of the sunsets as he travels:

Ah, he's a young man after my own heart!! He loves the sunsets just like I do!

And better yet, on Christmas day he called us and talked and talked and talked, and excitedly told us all about their journey and their hopes and dreams and plans and schemes...and told us about his girlfriend that we realized we had actually met at his graduation party 3 years ago...and well, even though some things may not be exactly ideal about this trip, it is a new beginning and he is happy and full of the joy of the adventure...and you know what?  I believe God will take care of the rest of the details...I don't need to worry or "preach"...I just need to pray for their safety and that God will guide them and keep them on the right path as they seek their new adventures.  My hubby and I both agree that keeping the communication going with him is the most important thing we can do right now. And I have to tell you, this truly made my Christmas day complete.

After the hubbub died down and the "kids" went back to their house, our son Scott went to work on his next gift for the next Christmas family gathering that was arriving on Sunday afternoon...yes, you heard that right...

These cookies are my mother's famous "orange cookies", (click that link for the rest of that story) and she would bake these anytime the family was coming home.  Now not only Scott, but at least one of my nieces that I know of, carries on this same tradition in memory of my mom. And so he wanted to have them ready for my sister and her hubby and their daughter and her hubby when they arrived Sunday after church.

Oh, these pillows are a gift from our kids too.  And they say what I want to say right now...

"Merry Christmas to all...to all a good night"

Stay tuned for "Still Processing Christmas-Day Two" coming up in a day or two, as I continue to process everything. It's been a very beautiful and meaningful Christmas here.

I hope it has been for you as well. I look forward to hearing your stories.

So, until next time, 

Amen!

 

Tuesday 4: December Arrives

 December Arrives...

Hello and welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 kept in her memory . We give you 4 things to think about each week and hope it spurs you to blog, connect with fellow bloggers and just stop and reflect!

December is a month filled with religious significance for so many. Christmas(Dec 24-25) and Chanukah(Nov 28-Dec 6). Christians speak of the light coming into the world at Christmas and

Chanukah is the festival of lights when the light was returned to the newly cleansed temple in Jerusalem. So they have a common connection: the light of God in the world.

Let's talk about December and what it has in store for you....

1. How much importance do you place on December holidays? Do you plan and prepare? Is that part of  "Twas the night before Christmas..."the fun for you or would you rather dispense with it?

Christmas is the highlight of the year in so many ways. Although for Christians, Easter is actually the more important Holy day, but without Christmas there would be no Easter.  Jesus, "Emmanuel",  God in the flesh, The Light of the World, came to earth as a baby to live and love and show us the way to heaven...through His perfect sacrifice of Himself on the cross to save us from our sins.

This beautiful "Cradle to the Cross" is in the narthex of our church. The white space at the bottom is actually a cradle, where the "baby Jesus" will be placed on Christmas eve.  I love this beautiful arrangement, and am very pleased to say that my son Benton built the cross that is being used in this display.  

So to answer more of the above question, yes, Christmas is a very special time for our family. Do I plan and prepare? Well...I've been busy the past few days decorating our home. We haven't put up the tree yet, but I am trying to get everything else done first and then we will bring in the tree and decorate it. Here are a few pictures of what I've been doing so far.  This is still a work in progress. 

I think what I love most about the Christmas season are all the lights. Yes, Jesus IS the Light of the World, and that is why we use so many lights to light up our homes and celebrate His birth.  Here's a few examples:

We start with this little grapevine tree on the front porch that I made a few years ago from our own wild grapevines we cut in the woods near our house. That was quite a job, but I sure love this little tree!

We don't do a big outdoor lights display...just enough to let people know we do celebrate Christmas here!

Also, the first thing we did was put out in the front yard this nativity scene and this little Christmas tree that my son built a few years ago. 

Next comes the indoor nativity

 and the Christmas dolls on the buffet...

Then in the kitchen there is the little grapevine Tea Cup Tree:

And then there's the little cabin:

And the other little cabin with the skating pond:

Oh, and let's not forget all our little friends over at Pamela's Victorian Cottage!  (you can click the link for last year's story from here)

They are busily getting everything ready for Christmas too!

There's a lot of other activity going on around the house, but we'll save something for later. Besides, I know "Lily Grace" is going to have some stories to tell soon too, as this is her first Christmas and she is really getting more and more excited every day as she sees all this activity. But we'll save her story for later.

So, I think you can tell by all of this that we do have a lot of fun with Christmas...

2. Food is a big part of the holiday season. Which foods and treats do you most look forward to having?  

One usual tradition is the baking of cookies, primarily my Grandma Mursch's Sand Tarts. Here is a link to tell you more about that.  Of course we enjoy all kinds of cookies, nut breads, pies, candy, you name it, we'll enjoy it if it's there to eat!  

3. It is a season for family, friends, guests and giving. Would you write a bit about how it all comes together for you in December?

Yes, we love to get together with our family and close friends at Christmas. Usually we just have our immediate family together on Christmas day, but then we try to get together with our extended "Florida family" at some time during the holidays for dinner and to exchange gifts, etc.  Although in recent years we have started doing a "white elephant gift exchange" with our extended family, where everyone brings a wrapped gift and then we draw numbers and pick a gift, etc., It is a lot of fun, and no one has to actually buy a gift, which is a gift in itself for those of us who are on fixed incomes and tight budgets.

We also have our traditional special church activities...our ladies' group has a luncheon and gift exchange, and also our choir puts on a Christmas Cantata (musical). I sing in the choir, so that is always a big event that we spend a lot of extra time practicing for.

4. Life changes and traditions alter due to those changes. Has anything changed for you and if so how? If not, would you mind sharing your traditions with us?

Primarily things changed a lot for us as our own parents passed on and we no longer had their homes to gather in for our family holidays.  That was a huge difference for us, and it has taken some time for each of us to adjust to the fact that now we are the older members of the family, and if we want to get together with our siblings and their families, we need to make the extra effort to make it happen.  "Mom and Dad" are no longer here to bring us all together.  And then also for our immediate family,  when our middle son Matthew passed away in 2014, holidays became even more significant to us because we realized just how quickly things can change...and we should not take anything or anyone for granted.  Celebrate with your loved ones as often as you possibly can...make the extra effort, go the extra mile...because once a significant member of your family passes on, there will always be that empty place at your table and in your heart.  

I hope this answers all the questions above!  Here's wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season!   From our house to yours:

Thank you to Annie of Cottage by the Sea for organizing this Tuesday 4 meme each week. You are all welcome to join in over at Tuesday 4 and add you name to the list of participants. It's a great way to make some new friends too!